Piercing The Shadows
by leafsong
Summary: A mysterious prophecy foretells the future of two Thunderclan apprentices. As they strife to become the best warriors possible shadows lurk behind ever corner, but piercing the shadows may reveal truths better left unknown.
1. Prolouge

_A/n : Hey! ^^ Ty for reading my story! Hope you enjoy it. Just to let you know, the main characters in my story are the two kits! ^^ This is just a prologue about how come the two kits ended up joining ThunderClan! By the way, do you have any idea for the names of the kits? Any ideas for the story? For both of these I have several ideas, but I'm always open to suggestions! Especially on how I can improve my writing. So please comment and let me know if I should carry on writing this, or go back to something else I have planned!_

_Oh, and by the way! If any of you have any warriors you've made yourself, then feel free to review and drop a description of them! I could always include them in whatever clan they live in and, if I like them enough, in my main storyline! ^^ Oh and some more information! ^^ This story takes place in the lake territory! ^^ I have made up all clan cats! (I think, I've only read the first two series of books) so cats like Hawkfrost won't be in here. I know this chapter doesn't tell you much about the actually storyline, but don't worry it'll get better!_

_**Prologue**_

An agonized groan echoed across the snow covered clearing of the forest floor, sparkling under the moonlight. Two cats hide in the shadows of the trees, hoping for any kind of protection against the bitter cold. One of the cats lay on her side, letting out a pained groan as yet another spasm shook her body, her tail withering from side to side. A ginger tom licked at her ears, concern filling his eyes as he whispered words of encouragement. "Don't worry, you're nearly there" His panicked tone doing nothing to calm the silver and white she-cat.

Her eyes clenched shut as she pushed, her heavy belly straining to release new life. She wished for the warmth of her twolegs nests, but she knew that they could never return, not if they wished to keep their kits. "Your almost there, push, Tilly, push!"

The tom urged her, knowing that the longer she took the weaker she would become, and they would have to be very strong if they were to survive…

The she-cat clenched her eyes as she pushed. Suddenly she felt a small body leave her own. He purred with delight as the father reached his head forward to pick up the small bundle and placed it next to the she-cat. The kit was ginger like his father, his eyes clenched shut. The only difference was a white underbelly and a single white sock on his front left paw. The she-cat purred temporarily before another spasm rocked through her body. She pushed as her mate bent his head to lick the first kit. It did not take long before she felt the second body leave her, but she knew it wasn't over yet, she could feel a third inside her. Groaning and panting, she pushed hard.

She began to feel relieve at knowing it was nearly over when suddenly, pain flared up her belly, causing her to let out a fierce yowl. Her mates eyes widened as he saw blood quickly stain the snow around her, spreading at an alarming rate. Soon it was everywhere, surrounding him and the kits, soaking his feet in his mates blood. Despair grew in his eyes; he could see his beloved Tilly growing weaker by the second! Her eyelids began to flutter, as if keeping them open was too hard. She looked at him, trying to send all her love in that one gaze, "take care of our kits, Sam…. I love you…"

"No, Tilly! Don't you go, please! I need you…. Please…."

His voice grew quitter as he realizes she couldn't hear. He hadn't even told her how much he loved her… He closed his eyes, wanting to lie down next to her for all eternity, to stay there and become covered in snow, to die slowly besides her….

The wailing of the kit besides him snapped him from these thoughts and he realized how cold the young tom must be. He began to lick it, and remembered that his mate hade born another before her death. He soon heard it wailing and picked it up to place it next to its brother, or, her brother. He realized with a shock how similar this young she-cat was to her mother. Her silver pelt was spotted with white blotches, almost identical to his mother. In dismay he saw the body of a third kit, this one cold and unmoving. He licked it a single time before turning his attention to the kits as his feet, already shivering and pressing against him. He began to lick them rapidly, trying to work some warmth into their tiny bodies. It seemed obvious that the kits weren't going to survive for long, not without milk and shelter from the cold. He suddenly froze as the fresh scent of cat cam towards him. With it he could hear voices.

"Can you smell that?"

"Yeah, I smell blood"

"It's a kittypet! I'll teach them what happens when they intrude on ThunderClan territory!"

Sam filled with horror as the sounds came closer; he could hear the fast drumming of paw steps as his chasers rushed towards him. Suddenly a brown cat was leaping from the bushes, barrelling into him. Sam hissed as he was flung away from his kits, both wailing even louder, sensing the danger. As his attacker rose to his feet Sam rushed to his kits standing over them as he snarled viciously 'Over my dead body', as his attacker approached slowly. Sam doubted he'd last, the cat was thin but Sam had felt muscles like now cat he knew, and this one looked only 7 moons old! Suddenly there were two more cats; a silver tabby she-cat and a much larger black tabby tom, an ugly scar marking his nose.

"What is a kittypet like you doing on ThunderClan territory?" snarled the bigger tom, as the first attacker joined then. He was much smaller and younger than the tabby, but was incredibly lean and long-limbed.

"I… I didn't know this was your land; I apologise for intruding" Sam murmured bowing his head. It seemed like a good idea not to irritate these wild cats…

"Calm down Blackclaw, can't you see the kits?" The silver tabby scorned and turned to face Sam "What in StarClan are you doing here in bare-leaf with two kits?"

"I ran away from my up-walkers" Stated Sam "Me and…. Tilly... we had kits many moons ago, only to have them taken away at two moons age. When she became pregnant again, we decide to run and live in the wild. She had the kits moments ago but… something went wrong…" and he pointed his tail to her unmoving body.

"Well, take your kits and move on. Kittypets belong in their twolegs nest, not out in the forest!" Snarled the black tabby, as the brown tom hissed his agreement.

"Don't be stupid, the kits will die without milk! What would Ashstar say if he knew? Come on, we'll take you to camp. Rushpaw, help Blackclaw take the bodies to camp." With that the silver tabby, who introduced herself as Silvertail, reached forward to take the ginger kit in her mouth, asking permission with her eyes. Sam nodded and picked up the second, and Silvertail lead the way to ThunderClan camp.


	2. Apprenticeship

A/n : Hey! ^^ Ty for reading my story! Hope you enjoy! Do you have any ideas for the story? I have several ideas, but I'm always open to suggestions, especially on how I can improve my writing! Oh and islanddog1571 was very helpful and told me Firestars father is called Jake, the same name as my characters farther. They recommended that I changed his name, and I agree. So my Jake is now called Sam! ^^ And after much self-debate I finally settled on the name Blazekit for the tom and Cloudkit for the she-kit.

Oh, and by the way! If any of you have any warriors you've made yourself, then feel free to review and drop a description of them! I could always include them in whatever clan they live in and, if I like them enough, in my main storyline! ^^

_**Apprenticeship**_

"**Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath the Highledge for a Clan meeting"**

The call rang throughout the ThunderClan camp as warriors, elders, queens and kits emerged from their dens, heading towards their leader.

Ashstar gazed proudly around at the cats that gathered beneath him. He could see his mate Willowmist, her belly swollen, gazing up at him. Besides her sat Sam, his orange fur and green eyes gleaming with pride as he gazed down at his two kits sat by his feet. Their fur was carefully groomed and they stared up in anticipation as their paws kneaded the ground in excitement. Blazekit looked almost identical to his farther, the same green eyes, identical orange fur. The only difference was his white sock and underbelly. Cloudkit, on the other hand, was completely different. She favoured her mother. Her bright blue eyes stood out against her brothers green ones and his orange fur had been swapped for bright silver with white splotches scattered across, these white splotches resembling the clouds that Sam named her for. Coming from the nursery was Brightfur, her bright, ginger tabby fur matching her daughter Sweetkits paler version. Before Sweetkit strode her brother; Whitekit, his white fur puffed out in pride and his amber eyes lit up with excitement as he looked up at Highledge. Ashstar noticed how, as Sweetkit stuck close to Brightfurs side with her tail trailing behind, Whitekit walked in front, his tail raised high as if to lead the way. He led the way to Sams side, where he and Sweetkit instantly sat beside Blazekit and Cloudkit, mewing excitedly together. They four had been littermates nearly their whole lives as Brightfur had given birth a day before Tilly, and agreed to feed Sams unnamed kits as soon as they arrived in camp, saying she had milk to spare from the death of her kit, Snowkit. Ashstar glanced around and, seeing that everybody seemed to be there, he began to speak.

Cloudkit glanced nervously up at Sam as Ashstar began to speak from the Highledge, his eyes gleaming with pride as he looked across his Clan. "This is a proud day for ThunderClan. By naming apprentices we show that we are able to survive and remain strong, so it is with honour that, this sunhigh, we gather together to name four apprentices. Cloudkit, Whitekit and Blazekit, come forward" Cloudkit glanced nervously at Sweetkit as she walked up to Highledge. He had said four apprentices, so why had he not called her? She was surprised to see Sweetkit grinning happily, looking up to Ashstar in anticipation. "Cloudkit, Whitekit and Blazekit" Ashstars voice snapped her attention back to their leader and she couldn't help but marvel how strong their leader looked. His grey fur shone in the sunlight and his bright green eyes seemed both powerful and kind. "From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Cloudpaw, Whitepaw and Blazepaw." At the mention of her new name a shiver went through Cloudpaws body and she couldn't help but murmur her name…

"_Cloudpaw…"_

"May StarClan guide you all along the path of becoming a loyal ThunderClan cats!" Ashstar finished.

Cloudpaws eyes widened as she looked up at Ashstar… she was finally a ThunderClan apprentice!

Paw steps cut her train of thoughts. She turned to see a young tom approaching, his pale ginger underbelly growing darker as it rises up his flank, going from pale to ginger to a dark stripe going from the top of his head to the tip of his tail. She recognized him from when he had joined her and her father when sharing-tongues. This was the warrior Foxstripe.

"Foxstripe, you are ready to take on your first apprentice. I have done much to teach you the live of a warrior; I know you will do your best to pass on all you know to your new apprentice, Cloudpaw" Cloudpaw eagerly shoved her nose up to Foxstripes and the two noses met in an awkward clash before repeating it, this time with Foxstripe trying to stop himself from laughing.

Cloudpaw followed Foxstripes lead as he sat down patiently to watch the remainder of the ceremony, though it took all of her self-control not to burst out with all the questions she had stored inside her head. She was an apprentice! Purrs rippled through her at just the thought, and her tail started swaying at its own accord as Whitepaw met his mentor, Mistystream, the silver tabby she-cat. His fur puffed out even more as he realised that Mistystream, _the deputy,_ was his mentor. The loyal she-cat smiled down at him as they watched Blazepaw greet his new mentor Birch-heart. Startled Cloudpaw remembered that Birch-heart was Brightfurs mate; he had spent a lot of time with them as they grew and he looked pleased with his apprentices. Cloudpaw purred at seeing how both Blazepaws and Birch-hearts eyes glistened with excitement at meeting their first mentor and apprentice. As Blazepaw and Birch-heart touched noses the murmurs of congratulations that had been weaving through the clan cats now grew to full meows as they called out the new names;

"Cloudpaw! Whitepaw! Blazepaw! Cloudpaw! Whitepaw! Blazepaw!"

Cloudpaw smiled as she followed Foxstripe into the rest of the clan members, congratulations and welcomes spinning around her as she tried her best to thank all of them.

"I'm so proud" Cloudpaw looked up to see Sam looking down at her, his eyes gleaming. He bent his head to rub against hers, both of them purring loudly.

"Cloudpaw! I love it, congratulations!" The excited meow came from Sweetkit who had bounded up towards Cloudpaw, rubbing her head against Cloudpaws.

"Thanks Sweetkit, but why weren't you made an apprentice?" Cloudpaw asked, wondering why Sweetkit wasn't surprised, she was the right age and her brother had just been made one.

"You'll see!" mewed Sweetkit happily. '_She seems to be having trouble staying in one place' _laughed Cloudpaw to herself as she watched Sweetkit almost bounce on the spot in excitement.

"Cats of the Clan!" The call rang out throughout the camp, turning the heads of every cat towards Highledge. On top of the large, towering rock Cloudpaw could see Dawnlight the medicine cat jump up to sit beside Ashstar. Cloudpaw remembered Dawnlight; she had often come into the nursery when Whitepaw had got a thorn stuck in his paw as a kit playing in camp.

Looking around at all the clan Dawnlight continued "ThunderClan, as you know I will not be around forever and it is time I took on an apprentice. I have chosen a cat; kind, gentle and eager to learn. Your next medicine cat will be… Sweetpaw"

Cloudpaw smiled as she watched Sweetpaw approach the base of Highledge, smiling up at Dawnlight. The young apprentice's whiskers quivered in anticipation as Ashstar spoke to her.

"Sweetpaw, do you accept the post of apprentice to Dawnlight?" Though Ashstars voice was proud, it was heavy with the responsibility the young apprentice would bear after completing her training.

"I do" Sweetpaws voice was strong and determined.

Smiling Dawnlight continued "Then, at the half-moon, you must travel to the Moonpool to be accepted by StarClan before the other medicine cats."

"The good wishes of all ThunderClan will go with you." Finished Ashstar as Dawnlight jumped down from Highledge to touch noses with Sweetpaw. '_That's why she wasn't made an apprentice before' though Cloudpaw, 'No wonder Ashstar wanted to talk to her last moon' _Calls of congratulations rang throughout the camp as Sweetpaw and Dawnlight walked towards the rest of the clan. Cloudpaw tried to weave through them, determined to be one of the first to congratulate Sweetpaw. She finally reached her, rubbing heads with her brother Whitepaw. Cloudpaw wiggled past Thorntail and bounded up to Sweetpaw.

"I can't believe you're going to be a medicine cat!" cried Cloudpaw as she rubbed against Sweetpaw. "And I love your new name!"

"Thanks!" mewed Sweetpaw.

"Congratulations, Sweetpaw, I'm proud of you" said a voice from above them. Cloudpaw looked up to see Birch-heart bend his head to give is daughter Sweetpaw an affectionate lick.

"Thanks dad" mewed Sweetpaw as she reached up to lick her farther on the shoulder.

"Congratulations to you as well, Cloudpaw" Birch-heart turned to face Cloudpaw, smiling. Though Sam was still alive often visited Blazepaw and Cloudpaw inside the nursery, he couldn't help but feel fatherly protection over all the kits his mate suckled.

"Sweetpaw!" Cloudpaw turned to see Blazepaw rush over from where Foxstripe and Mistystream were talking and bound over towards Sweetpaw, "Congratulations on becoming the medicine cats apprentice!"

"Thanks" said Sweetpaw as she brushed against him.

"Whitepaw, Cloudpaw; Mistystream said we should go and meet the other apprentices in the apprentices den" Blazepaw mewed, his tail indicating a small cave set into the walls of the camp, the entrance covered in brambles and tendrils, much like all the dens in ThunderClan camp.

As the three new apprentices said their farewells to Sweetpaw and headed towards the apprentice den Cloudpaw stopped to look around the camp. Mistystream and Foxstripe brushed against each over in one side, on the other elders shared-tongues and the today's news. Ashstar gave Willowmist an affectionate lick before going to talk to Thorntail about the Sunset patrol, Sweetpaw was walking towards the medicine cats den, talking excitedly with Dawnlight. Sam and Foxstripe talked as they headed towards the fresh-kill pile where Swiftpaw was picking up a mouse as he and Acornpaw headed towards the apprentices den. Cloudpaw smiled when she saw them, and continued on to the apprentice den.

_I can't wait for my first lesson…_

A/N: Ok I know I have two, It's because the top one contains information it's really important to know! Sorry I took so long, I spent 9 days on holiday in Poland! ^^ It was great! Oh and I know this chapter was a filler, but I needed to get in some more characters, their age, their rank and before I knew it it was 2000 words! ^^

Thanks to Islanddog1571 for her advice on the names. I loved Blazekit, and had to use it! ^^ I also loved Sweetkit! But it wasn't right for my character…. Luckily I couldn't stop thinking of it. Literally, when I was making other cats it just kept coming back, I knew that I had to fit it in somewhere! So, their friend it was. Thanks so much for the names! And thank you all for reading and special thanks for those who commented in the last chapter!


	3. Blazing clouds

_**Blazing clouds**_

"Urgh!" scoffed Whitepaw as a rush of scent attacked his nose, "What is that?"

"ShadowClan," Mistystream laughed. She remembered when she had first scented RiverClan; her reaction had been much the same.

"The only good thing about their stench is that we can smell them coming tree-lengths away!" Foxstripe joked, amusement flicking his tail as Whitepaw sniffed again, a repulsed look on his face.

Cloudpaw laughed as she did the same. She didn't mind the scent; though it was slightly bitter she found herself almost enjoying the scent of other Clans. '_I wonder if we smell this bad to them'_ thought Cloudpaw as Whitepaw wrinkled his nose in disgust before bounding up to his mentor Mistystream to consult her on why ShadowClan scent was on ThunderClan territory.

"It's not" She smiled; she always enjoyed having an inquisitive apprentice, "This is where our territory borders with ShadowClans; the scent is there to inform warriors of the border."

"We'll follow the border." Foxstripe said, "We can go down the Halfbridge, then along the lake to Sky Oak."

Whitepaw let out a mew of excitement, "I heard that the Lake was bigger than all the clan territory's put together!" He exclaimed excitedly to Cloudpaw.

"Smalltail said Sky Oak was so big that it reaches up into Silverpelt and StarClan use it for their clan meeting!" Cloudpaw replied eagerly, she couldn't wait to see the huge tree! Her excitement was making her head spin; she had nether imagined that Clan territory could be so… endless! Her head was filled with the sights she had seen and those she would.

The cats had travelled from camp up the old thunderpath (Something that amazed Whitepaw) to the abandoned twoleg nest (Cloudpaw could swear she heard something in there), there they had turned and continued towards ShadowClan territory. While they travelled Foxstripe had told them tales of gatherings and ceremony's, of brave leaders and evil warriors. He told them about the other clans: ShadowClan; the warriors who are at one with the shadows, WindClan; where cats were born with the wind in their paws and finally RiverClan; whose hearts belonged in the water.

The four cats continued to travel down the ShadowClan border, a gentle breeze drifting through their pelts, cooling them as it ruffled their fur. As they walked the breeze lazily changed direction…

Suddenly Mistystream crouched low to the ground, "Get down!" She hissed as her tail flicked fiercely from side to side.

"What is it?" Whispered Cloudpaw crouching down but Mistystream silenced her with a flick of an ear.

"Something's heading towards us, and fast!" hissed Foxstripe quietly.

"ShadowClan" growled Mistystream just as a she-cat hurled herself from the bracken.

The light brown she-cat pounced onto Mistystream, barrelling her over as the two tumbled around in a fierce embrace, hisses and snarls ringing throughout the forest. Foxstripe rushed to help his mate but was knocked aside by a ruddy tom. Fur stood on end Foxstripe leapt up at him clawing fiercely. Suddenly Cloudpaw was knocked on her side, the hard ground easily knocking the breath out of her. The large grey tom pinned her down, his eyes flaring with rage. Whitepaw snarled and pounced on the tom, hanging onto his back as he dragged his back claws down the cats flank. His opponent snarled in fury as his huge claw hurled Whitepaw to the ground.

"Does ThunderClan honestly think they can destroy ShadowClan?" Snarled the grey tom as Whitepaw struggled to his feet, hackles raised and fur stood on end, with his white fur splatted red from where the grey tom had clawed him.

_WHITEPAW! _Adrenaline rushed through her as Cloudpaw raked her back claws down the tom's soft underbelly causing him to yowl and leap of her. Snarling Cloudpaw rushed to her feet only to be knocked down as the tom swept a giant claw into her legs. She swept an unsheathed claw at his face, slicing open his nose and causing blood the sweep in his eyes, momentarily blinding him. The light around them dimmed, though Cloudpaw was too caught up in the fight to notice.

"_**Stop!" **_yowled Foxstripe as he battered the ruddy tom away from him. Cloudpaw looked up at him, backing away from the grey tom; his fur was scattered with small cuts and hung out in clumps along his left side. Behind him Mistystream kicked the she-cat of her and hissed fiercely, her ears turned towards Foxstripe. With a shock Cloudpaw realised how dark it was. She looked up and let out a wail of fright.

….

"Sweetpaw, what are these?"

Sweetpaw looked over the dark blue-purple berries, trying to place a name on them. Dawnlight had spent most of the morning teaching her the names of many different berries and it felt like her head was swimming with the names, uses, dangers and locations of thousands of different plants.

"Eeerrrr... Juniper berries?" Sweetpaw asked timidly, unsure of her reasoning.

Dawnlight let out a purr "That's right! Do you know what they're used for?"

"eemmm, they can calm a cat… and… and it can help with breathing problems!" Sweetpaw exclaimed proudly.

"Good!" smiled Dawnlight, "Though they can also strengthen a weak cat and heal with stomach pains. You pull some of while I go and find some beech leaves, we can use them to take the berries back to camp."

Nodding Sweetpaw leant forward, lightly taking the berries in her mouth before pulling them off. It was her first day as an apprentice and, while the other apprentices had gone hunting, on patrol or training she had spent it so far by trying to memorize every plant and berry Dawnlight showed her. She felt proud though, for there was no doubt in her mind that this is what she wanted to do. It felt like she had known since birth that fighting wasn't her future, that her future involved her walking alongside StarClan, working to protect and heal her clan. Smiling she reached forward to pick of another berry.

Dawnlight padded back into the small clearing, four large beach leaves clasped firmly in her jaws. She placed them next Sweetpaw and told her to wrap the berries inside as she padded away to find some borage leaves in preparation for Willowmists kitting. Dawnlight pushed her head into the undergrowth, scanning for any borage leaves. Maybe she should get some chervil and burnet as well, in case something went wrong. She could ask a warrior or elder to stay with Willowmist in the nursery, so she wasn't alone if she started kitting. She would not let Snowkit happen all over again...

"Dawnlight… you might want to see this…" Dawnlight turned to face Sweetkit whose fur was stood on end as she stared up into the sky. Dawnlight followed her gaze. Winds started to rush around her, stealing her breath as it scattered leaves around her paws. Dawnlight gasped as the clouds above them lit up, almost as if set on fire, glowing bright oranges and reds as they formed an unnatural circle around the sun.

"Blazing clouds may protect the light of Clans…" The words whirled on the winds around her, rushing past her ears before being swept away, carried off into the distance with the wind. Hope swirled through her paws as Dawnlight soaked up the sun and her eyes widened as the clouds almost set on fire before dimming, and dimming, and dimming…

The hope was chased out by fear as the clouds turned black, swirling to cover the sun in darkness. Dawnlights fur stood on end as her and Sweetpaw were plunged into darkness. Her paws screamed for her to run as the wind rushed downwards pressing her to the ground as hard as the words that began to ring through her ears,

"Or plunge them into Darkness…"

The winds stopped as Dawnlight rose shakily to her paws, each of her limbs heavy with fatigue.

"Are… you ok?" asked Sweetpaw anxiously as she padded over.

"Blazing clouds may protect the light of people or plunge them into darkness…" Mewed Dawnlight shakily, "Do you…?" at Sweetpaws black expression Dawnlight shook her head and turned toward camp.

She would have to tell Ashstar…

AN: Did you like it? This is where the main story plot begins, so let me know what you think! Also, important news! From now on you will be able to see the cats! I'll explain! I made a deviant art account where drawings I have done of the characters in 'Piercing the Shadows' will be posted up! You can find a link to the account and a link to the separate cats on my Authors page! (Fan fiction won't allow the use of links in chapter) I will try and post up a character with every chapter! So do you like the idea? So, to kick it all off we have to cat it all started with…

Sam!

And! As a special treat, Cloudpaws mentor… Foxstripe!

The links to them are on my author's page!


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